Local books: Business exec pens a primer on ‘how to make it anywhere’

A young Bill Grimm used to shoot hoops in the barn, practicing till sometimes 8 at night. He chalked a baseball diamond on a gravel surface and pitched, over and over, into the strike zone, zeroing in on accuracy and teaching himself how to throw a fastball, how field the ball, how to hit. Whether through athletics or academics, he was going to get himself off the farm and into college.

Movies have been made about the kind of life Bill Grimm has led. Since he was born and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, we could imagine a Hallmark screenplay. But the deeply difficult challenges he faced in his youth would shift it to something more “Stand by Me.”

Yet, after Grimm got himself an athletic scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison — the first in his family to attend college — from which he commenced with a degree in chemistry, and then went on to achieve his MBA at Loyola University-Chicago, he decidedly changed his own storyline.

Bill Grimm, chief operation officer at Cannery Row Co. (Courtesy photo)

At this point, Grimm, currently the Chief Operating Officer for the Cannery Row Company, anchored by a 22-year tenure, might lean back in his corporate leather chair and survey all he has achieved during a legendary career in business development, project management, leasing, and acquisitions. Yet he’s still in the game and likely won’t even take time for the “seventh inning stretch.”

Grimm has lent his expertise to so many companies — Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, California Pizza Kitchen, and Gloria Jeans’ Coffees, to name a few — were he to write a book about his career trajectory, it would have to become either a tome or a trilogy. Instead, he wrote, not about what he has achieved, but what he has learned along the way, so that others might learn from his experiences. All of which he distilled into a 200-page primer. You’ll get the message.

“Attitude of Resilience: How to Get Energized and Thrive” (2023) offers a hard-earned understanding of the mental and emotional elasticity required to play the long game in business. Grimm considers his text a guidebook, in which he has presented strategies on how to construct a solid foundation built with goals and anchored in decisiveness, perseverance, grit. He speaks to the importance of mastering skillsets, developing operating systems, and understanding that networking is not a euphemism for “schmoozing.”

Plus, he gives examples from his own career experiences to help bring home his messages.

“At one point,” he recalled, “I went from a sleepy little town in San Diego to the hustle and bustle of New York. I kept making sales pitches to people, and they kept walking away. Finally someone said, ‘You’re in New York. You talk too much. We’re busy. Get to the point.’ So I took a class on assertiveness.”

Grimm actually took an acting class for non-actors in Manhattan

“I learned what Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are all about, how to dominate the scene,” he said, “without the audience even realizing it. I left, singing, ‘New York, New York; if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,’ and I knew I could.”

Making it everywhere

Grimm eventually moved to California, where he became the national director of franchising for Baskin-Robbins. But only after scrolling through microfiche to do considerable research on his competitors, executives at Burger King and Taco Bell.

“I had eight regional sales offices reporting to me. I wanted to grow the company,” he said, “so I put together a plan to introduce a coffee business to Baskin Robbins by cobranding Dunkin Donuts, putting them next to each other. I broke all kinds of sales records.”

In the meantime, Grimm had kept his eye on PepsiCo, which was looking to franchise California Pizza Kitchen, and took note of the concept. He came on board as vice president of Global Franchising. He trained company founders and the executive team, while working to grow the organization, positioning it to sell. Ultimately, he was so successful, when the company sold, Grimm had worked himself out of a job.

“I had to reform my vision, remain resilient,” he said, “and move on. This concept factors prominently in my book. While I was with CPK, I created a speech on Attitude, the most powerful word in the English language. When periods of change come, it is our attitude that helps us roll with the waves, rather than sinking.”

When Grimm, who believes in coffee “in a big way,” received an opportunity to become an officer with Gloria Jean’s Coffee in Castroville, he moved to the area and, during the next two years, grew the company “all over the world.

“Then I formed a French café and coffee concept shop in Santa Cruz and was ready to sign the lease,” he said, “when 9-11 hit. That was a difficult but essential time to maintain the right attitude.”

After a search company asked Grimm if he had heard of Ted Balestreri and the Cannery Row Company, he met with Balestreri and became chief operating officer for the company.

“I saw a great opportunity to coach and develop people,” Grimm said. “That was 22 years ago, and it has only become more important. I didn’t know the word resilience as a youth, but it was in me, and it has led my whole life, my whole career. I have done great things in my life, but only because I’ve had an attitude of resilience, enabling me to network, form a new vision, and stay positive. This is the foundation of my career and my book.”

“Attitude of Resilience: How to Get Energized and Thrive” (2023) is available at River House Books in The Crossroads Carmel and via Amazon.